


When The Wild Things Cry

by MaddieWrites



Series: The Darkness Inside [3]
Category: Septiplier - Fandom
Genre: Consider the Angst tagged, Fluff, M/M, Maybe a little angst, light humor, there will be angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-12 04:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11153877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieWrites/pseuds/MaddieWrites
Summary: After Jack and Anti obtain separate bodies, it becomes apparent that Anti has a lot to learn. For LupinWolf who inspired me to write a Part Three in the first place.THIS SERIES IS UNDER MAJOR RECONSTRUCTION, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK





	1. The Call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LupinWulf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LupinWulf/gifts).



> I'm super excited to be back!!! I have a reason to get up in the morning again!!! I can't wait to share this awesome adventure with you guys!!! Thank you so much for reading this far!!!! You guys are the best!!!

“Hello? Is this Mr. McLoughlin?”  
“Yes.” Jack said eagerly.  
“We're calling to let you know that your son is going to be alright. You can come get him now.”  
“Thank goodness. We'll be there in five minutes. Thank you.”  
“Sure thing. You have a nice day dear.”  
Jack hung up the phone and turned to Mark.  
“Well?”  
“He's okay.” Jack laughed. “We can bring him home, come on!” He practically dragged Mark to the car.  
“Okay, so what are we doing with him when he gets back? Guest room?” Mark asked.  
“Yeah, that's what I thought. We'll need to get him clothes too. I think he'll be fine in what he was wearing earlier for another day. I can go shopping after we set up his room.”  
“Sounds good.”

 

Jack and Mark waited in the waiting room for them to bring Anti out.  
“Okay, he's a little scared, so be prepared.” The nurse warned before bringing Anti over to them.  
“Hey, ready to go home?” Mark asked while Jack headed over to sign him out.  
“You just left me here.” Anti whispered. He sounded so sad, betrayed almost.  
“Sorry buddy. The doctors made us leave so they could get you all fixed up. Now that you're better, we can take you home. I forgot that you didn't know how hospitals work. They take you away for a little bit and make you better, then send you home.”  
“I didn't think you'd come back.” He admitted.  
“Well... Well we did, so let's go home, okay?”  
Anti nodded and let Mark lead him out to the car. He seemed to be mad at them for just taking off like that, and he glared the whole way home.


	2. Lessons and Lunch meat

“This will be your room.” Jack announced, leading Anti to the guest room.   
“Can I have food?” He asked timidly.   
“Sure. I have to pick up some clothes for you, but Mark will make you something.” Jack led him to the kitchen. “Mark, can you make something for Anti?”  
“Yeah, where are you going?”  
“Shopping. He'll need some clothes.”  
“Okay, don't be gone long.” Mark pulled Jack into a quick kiss before he left. “So,” He turned to Anti. “Do you want blood or real people food?”  
“Food.”  
“Okay. Not really giving me much to work with... How about a sandwich?”  
He nodded, so Mark set his mug of coffee on the other end of the table and Anti took it, taking a sip. Mark ignored him and turned to make a sandwich when he heard something break. He whipped back around and Anti was staring wide eyed at the shattered mug on the floor. He must've dropped it by accident.  
“It's okay. It's just a mug. We have more.” Mark assured him, bending down to clean up the mess. “These things break all the time. No big deal.”   
Anti nodded, relaxing a bit. Mark got the glass and coffee cleaned up and finished making Anti's food.   
“Here you go.” He set the plate down in front of him along with a bottle of water. Jack texted while Anti was eating.  
-Hey, might want to check and make sure your car's locked. The news is saying there have been a lot of robberies where things get stolen out of cars.-  
-I'll check.-  
“Hey, I'm gonna run outside real quick. You just stay here and eat.” Mark instructed.  
“You'll come back, right?”  
“Of course. I'm just making sure my car is locked.” He headed out and double checked.  
-Yep, all locked up.-   
Mark headed back in to discover Anti was already done eating. He must've been hungry. It had been a few days since he last had anything, and the last thing he had was blood...  
“Want anything else?”  
“No.”  
“Okay. You'll probably want to take a shower then. You know where the bathroom is?”  
He nodded and went in. After a few minutes with no sounds of water running, Anti came back out looking embarrassed.  
“Everything okay? Do you need a towel?”  
“I don't know how to shower. Jack always did that.”  
“There are instructions on the bottles. Get back in there and read up. This is way above my pay grade.” Mark ushered him back into the bathroom and shut the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a little longer I guess. I'm really excited for chapter three though. I can't wait for you guys to read it!!! I'll see you all tomorrow!


	3. Like a Bull in a China Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically what it says on the tin.

“You should get dressed for the day.” Mark decided when Anti came into the kitchen wearing the pajamas Jack had given him. “I think Jack put your new clothes in your room.”  
Anti shrugged and left to get changed before returning in jeans and a t-shirt that still had tags on them in addition to Mark's sweatshirt.  
“Okay... We can get you a sweatshirt if you want one.” Mark decided, coming over to cut the tags off.  
“I want this one.” He pulled it tighter around himself.  
“Okay, whatever. I'll get /me/ a new one then.” He threw the tags away and turned back around to find Anti eating his toast. “Anti!”  
“What?”  
“That's mine.”  
“Oh... I'm hungry.”  
“Okay. That's fine. You eat that. I'll make more.” Mark sighed. He put some more toast in and waited for it to finish cooking. When it was done, he spread butter on it and turned to find that Anti was gone, but he'd left his plate on the table. Mark put it in the sink before sitting down to eat.

 

“Anti!”  
He looked up, startled. “What?”  
“If you were cold you could've said and I would've gotten you a blanket.”  
“You seemed to be very against me having blankets.”  
“So you pulled the curtains down and wrapped up in those?” Mark asked.  
“Yes.” Anti snuggled down into them.  
“Well let me get you a blanket and I'll put the curtains back up.” He headed to the closet and fetched one, but when he came back, Anti was gone, leaving the curtains behind.  
“/Seriously/?”

 

 

Mark decided that since Jack would be at work for another few hours, he might as well shower and film something. He headed into his room to grab some clothes and discovered Anti curled up in his and Jack's bed, asleep.  
“What are you doing?” Mark asked, shaking him awake.  
“Sleeping.” Anti mumbled, burrowing down into the blankets.  
“You have your own bed. Why are you in here, and why are you sleeping in the middle of the day?”  
“I'm tired and I like your bed better.” Anti was clearly in no mood to talk, so Mark decided to drop it and worry about getting him on a normal sleeping schedule later. He took his clothes and headed into the bathroom only to find out it looked like a tornado had come through. Mark groaned loudly and set to work cleaning it up. Jack would be home soon and wouldn't want to find the bathroom all torn apart like this. 

 

 

“You're eating /now/?” Mark asked. Anti was sitting in a sunny spot in the kitchen, eating cereal straight out of the box.  
“Yes.”  
“You had lunch like half an hour ago!”  
“I'm hungry again.”  
“You had breakfast twice already and now a second lunch too? You're like a hobbit!”  
“What's that?”  
“We're having a movie marathon as soon as Jack gets home... Fine, eat cereal, just don't make a mess, okay?”  
“Okay.” Anti went back to shoving cereal into his mouth and Mark decided he would finally go film.

 

“And that's why-.” Mark was interrupted by sudden loud music blaring. “What?” He stood and went to investigate.  
“Anti?” Mark shouted over the music. He followed it to his own bedroom and went in. It was coming from a set of speakers in the corner, hooked up to his phone. Mark quickly unplugged them, stopping the music.  
“What was that for?” Anti asked groggily from Mark's bed.  
“It's way too loud. You'll hurt your ears and I'm trying to record a video in the other room. You can't take my phone, and you can't listen to music like that, especially not when I'm filming.” Mark took his phone back and went to finish the video, only to be interrupted again by the unmistakable sound of a lamp breaking. 

 

“Jack! You're home!” Mark exclaimed, tackling him in a hug.  
“Yeah? How were things with Anti? Any car robbers show up?”  
“We gotta send him to a daycare, babysitting, orphanage, /something/. He's done nothing but eat, sleep, make noise, and break things all day. He's driving me insane.”  
“He just doesn't know any better Mark. You told me he didn't even know how to shower. He just needs a few days to learn what's okay and what's not. He'll get there.”  
“You have to take off of work tomorrow and help me.”  
“I can't take off work tomorrow. I'm going out of town for that conference, remember? I have to leave in like three hours and I'll be gone for nearly three days. You can handle it.” Jack headed into the bedroom to change into pajamas and Mark heard a crash form the living room.  
“Are you even kidding me?” He groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I broke the shift key I'm used to using on my computer and now I have to use the other one. It's really annoying and it makes my typing go a lot slower. This shouldn't affect you guys at all, I'm just upset about it. Anyways... Thanks so much for reading!!! Kudos and comments make it feel a lot less like I'm writing to a brick wall!!


	4. Sometimes Darkness Shines the Brightest

“Hey, good morning Anti.” Mark smiled. He was determined to make the most of today, no matter what Anti did.   
“Morning.” He mumbled groggily.   
“I made you some toast.” Mark set down the plate in front of him.   
“Thanks...” Anti seemed suspicious, but he accepted the food.   
“So, got anything planned for today?” Mark asked.  
“No... Do you?”  
“Well I need to film something, so could you be extra quiet until I'm done?”  
“I guess... I can try.” He shrugged, quickly finishing off his toast. He took a slice of Mark's toast off of his plate and started eating it.   
“Okay then... Well, I guess I'll get started on that.” Mark headed into his recording room. The first half of his recording was done in a silent house, and it was almost too good to be true. That was when he heard the crash.   
“/Ugh/.” Mark groaned. He got up and went to investigate. Anti was rolling around on the floor, playing with the lampshade of the lamp he'd knocked over.   
“Anti, what are you doing?”  
“I got bored.” He batted at the tassels on the lampshade.   
“Okay, it's fine. Just play with that quietly.” Mark sighed. “I'm like halfway done. Then you can make as much noise as you want, okay?”  
“Okay.”  
“Great.” Mark went back into the recording room and had only just sat down when Anti started blaring music.   
“Anti!” He stormed out of the room and found Anti cuddled up in his bed again. “What are you doing!?! I told you to be quiet!”  
“You said I could make as much noise as I want.”  
“I meant after I'm done recording and I come tell you it's fine! I'm not done yet! Okay, it's okay. You just didn't know what I meant. Not your fault. Just be quiet until I come tell you you can make noise.”  
“Okay.” Anti snuggled back into Mark and Jack's blankets despite the fact that he only woke up a few hours ago. Well, if he was sleeping, he couldn't make any noise. Mark headed back and started recording again. He wasn't interrupted this time, which was nice. When he finished, he headed back out to his and Jack's bedroom, where he'd expected Anti to be sleeping, only to discover the room was empty. Mark shrugged it off and went to find him. He was in the kitchen, practically swimming in cereal that he'd spilled all over the floor.   
“What are you doing!?!” Mark exclaimed.  
“I got bored.” Anti shrugged, eating some of the cereal off the floor.  
“Okay, you can't make messes like this and then not clean them up! You can't just go around breaking things and eating people's food and stealing their clothes! And you /absolutely/ can /not/ eat anything that has touched the floor!” Mark yelled, taking the empty boxes of cereal from him. As he lunged forward to do so, Anti let out a hiss and swiped at him. A clear message telling him to stay back.   
“No! You don't get to hiss and get away with it! I need to do my job and I can't because you're running around making noise! You should know better than to just take things that don't belong to you! And you-!”  
Anti let our a hiss, scooting back into a corner, and curled up in a ball. Mark held still and let him get his bearings for a moment before slowly moving to comfort him. He hissed again and burst into tears.   
“Go away.”   
Mark tried to approach him again, only to earn a hiss and a swat. He backed off and Anti darted out of the room. Mark decided it was best to just let him calm down alone for a while, heading back to edit in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uploaded before school today! Look at me! Good job me! And good job you for reading!!! Dark will probably not be returning; he isn't in the outline. I know the title of this chapter makes it sound like he's back, but I just couldn't come up with a better title.


	5. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark loses something and has to find it...

Mark woke up to his alarm telling him he was supposed to upload a video half an hour ago, so he raced around the house sliding into furniture and hurried to his recording room. He had to post a prerecorded and pre-edited one since he didn't have time to edit. Now that he had a new video up, Mark decided he'd better go make Anti some food before he made a mess trying to get it himself. Mark got some toast made and headed into the guest room to wake Anti.   
“Anti?”   
He approached the bed cautiously, wondering if he was still in a bad mood after yesterday. The bed looked kind of empty... Mark yanked the covers back only to learn that it /was/ empty. Mark wondered back to his own room, thinking Anti may have decided to curl up in his bed while he was uploading. Mark looked around, checking in and under the bed. Nothing.  
“Anti! Where are you?” Mark called into the empty house. There was no response. He headed into the living room. Maybe he'd wanted to watch a movie. It was empty too.  
“Anti! Are you hiding!?!”   
There was no response.   
“Hello?” Mark went back into the kitchen. He happened to glance towards the door and spotted his shoes. Huh. Nothing there. He wondered out of the kitchen only to race back in. Where were Anti's shoes? They should be right here. Had he left? Mark hadn't heard him leave in the night... He must've run away right after their fight. Had Anti spent the night on the streets? He didn't have any money, how would he get food? What if he ran into trouble? There were a lot of gangs and thieves in LA. He was just a kid, how could he possibly fight something like that?   
Mark reached for his phone only to discover it was missing. Yes! Anti must've taken it! Mark could use it's GPS to find him! He ran into the living room and grabbed the land-line before calling his cell.   
“Hi, it's Mark. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now. I'm probably recording. Leave a message.” It went to voice mail after a few rings.  
Mark sighed and headed into his recording room. He pulled up his phone's tracking services and waited impatiently for it to find his cell. It did, revealing that the phone was only a few blocks away. Mark could drive there in minutes.  
That was when his car alarm went off. Mark raced outside to see a group of boys dressed in black running away. It was a good thing Jack had made sure he'd locked his car. Mark waited until they were out of sight and unlocked it, climbing in and starting it up. Now where was Anti? Mark looked back at his screen to figure out where to go. Which direction...? His eyes widened and he floored it. Those thieves were running right at Anti!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry but you will be left waiting for Chapter Six until Saturday at least. I'm swamped between my new job and last minute school work and won't be able to write again until Saturday. I should be able to upload Chapter Six by 7:00 PM this Saturday. I'm really sorry for any inconvenience or trauma this may cause. Thanks so much for reading!!!


	6. Found

Mark may have broken a few laws driving to where Anti was, but he didn't care. He /had/ to find the poor kid before he got hurt. Mark sighed, struggling to concentrate on the road. This was all his fault. Anti hadn't even done anything wrong, he just didn't know what he wasn't supposed to do. Mark felt absolutely horrible about all of this. Why hadn't he just backed off when Anti hissed? If anything happened to the kid, he'd never forgive himself.  
Mark froze. Was that a scream? ...there it was again. The tracker was leading him right to the sound. Mark practically floored it, shooting around a corner and slamming on the breaks next to the ally he'd heard screams come from. Mark locked his car and sprinted into the darkness. Anti was crouched in a ball on the ground, holding his side.  
“Anti! Are you okay?”   
Anti's head shot up and he stumbled back into the shadows when Mark approached him.   
“Hey, it's me. It's okay; everything's fine. Are you hurt?”  
He nodded hesitantly, still on high alert for threats.  
“Can I see?”  
Anti slowly crept into the light, raising his head. His jaw was bruised and his left eye was dark and puffy.   
“Okay, it's not bad. Let's get you home and we'll put some ice on that.” Mark stepped towards him and he hissed, scrambling backwards.   
“No, no it's okay. I won't hurt you.” Mark held still, not wanting Anti to run and get himself into more trouble. His reaction made sense. The last time Anti had seen Mark, he himself had been one of those threats. “It's okay.”  
Anti let out a primal growl and snapped at him, telling him to stay away. He was hurt and scared and Mark was bigger than him.   
“I just want to help.” Mark put his hands behind his head and approached slowly. Anti let out a hiss but didn't move away.  
“It's okay. Please don't run.” Mark slowly extended a hand to pull him up. Anti reached out hesitantly, stopping just before their fingers touched to reevaluate the situation. He pulled his hand back and crept away into the corner. Mark knew better than to approach a cornered animal, especially one that was hurt. He took a step back and crouched down to be eye level with Anti.  
“I won't hurt you. It's alright, I won't hurt you.” He slowly extended a hand, freezing when Anti hissed. “I just want to help. I want to take you home where I'll get you all patched up and you can have all the blankets you want.” Mark soothed. “I will not hurt you.” He extended his hand a bit farther.  
“Promise?” Anti asked, voice sounding primal. Something between a snarl and a whimper.  
“I promise.”  
Anti took his hand cautiously and Mark pulled him to his feet. Anti's other hand was still pressed to his side; he must've been kicked there. Mark took in the pain in his eyes. They needed to get him some painkillers.   
“Let's go back home and get you cleaned up, okay?”   
Anti suddenly surged forward, throwing his free arm around Mark and burying his face in Mark's neck.  
“It's okay. I've got you.” Mark held him close and let Anti nuzzle into his neck.   
“I'm scared.” He whimpered.  
“Don't be. Everything's fine. I'm here now, and we're going home.”  
Anti pulled back and released his side to reveal a growing patch of blood.  
“Anti?”  
He carefully lifted his shirt to show Mark the stab wound.


	7. Found Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anti POV.

Anti had never been this cold in his life. Last night had been rough, and he'd been too cold and scared to sleep. Thankfully the sun was coming up now and he'd be warm again soon. Anti was hungry too. He'd definitely been hungrier than this before, but that didn't make being this hungry any better. He just wanted to go home, but he couldn't remember which direction home was. All these buildings looked the same.   
Anti picked a direction at random and headed that way. Pausing, he breathed in deeply, trying to pick up Mark's scent. He couldn't. He'd never been so far away from Mark that he couldn't get his scent. That was scary. Anti missed Mark, but Mark had hurt him, and he'd needed to leave. Maybe Jack would be home when Anti made it back. Jack would keep Dark under control. No, Mark, not Dark, he reminded himself. Dark was gone, and Mark wouldn't hurt him. He just had to stop being annoying. Then Mark wouldn't get mad.   
Anti heard a car alarm go off, interrupting his thoughts, and now he was picking up a new scent. It was approaching him quickly. Something told him this new scent meant trouble, so he started running. He could hear someone chasing after him. Anti had to lose them. He was picking up five scents, six counting his own. He couldn't fight that many. Anti darted down a new street, hoping they wouldn't follow. He was so busy trying to track their scents he didn't see the wall until he ran into it. Oh no. It was a dead end.   
“Hey, don't move!” A male voice demanded. Anti froze, staying as still as possible.  
“Turn around!”   
He was a bit confused as to what he should do, hold still like they said or turn around like they said. Anti turned slowly, praying it was the right decision.   
“Give us your money.”  
“I don't have any money.” Anti told them, voice wavering. Mark had mentioned money once to Jack, giving him a piece of paper. But Anti was pretty sure he didn't have any of that.  
“Really? /Sure/ alright kid, give us your money or we'll have to hurt you.” The tallest one pulled a knife. Anti took a half step back in fear.   
“I-I really don't have any money, I swear. Please don't hurt me.”  
“If you hand over your wallet, we won't have to.” The short, fat one growled.  
“I don’t have a wallet.” Anti whimpered. What did they want anyways? They said they wanted money, but now they wanted a wallet. He was scared and confused and eh wanted to go home. “I would give it to you if I had one, just /please/.”

 

Someone new was coming towards him, and fast. Anti was too scared to move. It hurt too much to do that anyways. Blood threatened to seep through his shirt, spill out onto the pavement. He just wanted to go home.  
“Anti! Are you okay?”  
He jolted, stumbling back. He didn't want it to hurt anymore.   
“Hey, it's me. It's okay. Everything's fine. Are you hurt?”  
It was Mark. Or was it Dark like last time? Everything was blurry and confusing. Anti couldn't tell Dark's scent from Mark's. He never could. Which was it? Anti nodded in response, just in case. Either one would want an answer.   
“Can I see?”  
Mark would help. Maybe Dark would too. Anti needed help, bad. It didn’t sound like Dark... Anti had to risk it. He had no choice. Anti crept forward slowly, lifting his head so Mark could see the bruises that were forming. Everything hurt.   
“Okay, it's not bad. Let's get you home and we'll put some ice on that.”  
Mark stepped towards him and he hissed before he could stop himself, scrambling away.  
“No, no it's okay. I won't hurt you. It's okay.” Mark, or Dark, was holding still now.   
Anti growled, snapping at Mark. Whichever one it was needed to stay away from him.   
“I just want to help.” Mark put his hands behind his head and started moving towards him. He was moving slowly, and Anti could get around him if he needed to, so he didn't move away.   
“It's okay. Please don't run.” Mark slowly extended a hand to pull him up. Should he take it? Anti reached for his hand, wanting very badly to go home. What if it was Dark? What if Mark was still mad, mad enough to hit? He drew back quickly. No. Anti backed himself into a corner where he felt safer and Mark moved away. He crouched down to look at Anti.   
“I won't hurt you. I won't hurt you.” He extended a hand again and Anti hissed. Mark froze, waiting a moment.  
“I just want to help. I want to take you home where I'll get you patched up and you can have all the blankets you want. I will not hurt you.” He extended his hand a bit farther.   
Anti wanted that. He wanted that very much.“Promise?” He finally found his voice.   
“I promise.”   
Anti slowly took his hand, letting Mark pull him up. He kept his other hand pressed to his side, wincing.   
“Let's go back home and get you cleaned up, okay?”  
Anti didn't know what came over him, but he threw himself into Mark's arms. He needed safe, needed home, and Mark's scent always meant both of those things.  
“It's okay. I've got you.” Mark soothed, letting Anti nuzzle into his neck.   
“I'm scared.” He admitted, putting a bit more pressure on the ever-bleeding gash.   
“Don't be. Everything's fine. I'm here now, and we're going home.”  
Mark didn't know about the gash. That's why he was so calm. Anti stepped back and took his hand off of it so he could see.  
“Anti?”  
He carefully lifted his shirt to show Mark the stab wound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Leave a comment if you have feedback for me!!!


	8. Home

“Okay, keep your hand on that.” Mark said gently, pressing Anti's hand to the wound. “ Let's go to the car. Keep pressure on it.” He led Anti back, opening the door for him and helping him with his seat belt.   
“Okay, so what's going to happen now is I'm going to take you to the hospital.” Mark remembered how traumatized Anti had been last hospital visit, and seeing as they were going there again, Mark figured he'd better debrief him. “They're going to take you into a room and I won't be allowed to go with you, and they might make me go home but I'll come back. In the room, they'll probably give you stitches, so once they get you all stitched up, they'll call me to come get you.”  
“I don’t want to go back to the hospital. I want to go home.” Anti whimpered.   
“I promise that it'll be alright and I /will/ come back. But I can't take care of that cut. The hospital can. I /need/ to take you to the hospital, okay? They'll make sure you're alright.”   
Anti nodded slowly.   
“Okay, good.” Mark parked as close to the entrance as he could. “Let's go.”  
“You'll be back for me, right?” Anti whispered, not moving.  
“Of course.”  
“Even though I was annoying on accident?”  
“I'll be back, I promise.”   
Anti nodded and they went inside.

 

 

“Mark!” The nurse held Anti back from running to hug him. She didn't want him to rip his stitches, but she did let Mark come over to them and hug Anti.  
“You came back!” Anti exclaimed, nuzzling into his neck.  
“I told you I would.” Mark smiled. ”I have to sign you out, okay? Then we'll go home.”  
Anti nodded and let go.  
“Oh, here.” Mark handed him a sweatshirt. It was Mark's sweatshirt, the one Anti was always stealing.  
“But it's yours.”  
“I'll get a new one. Let's go.”

 

 

“Home sweet home.” Mark sighed, flopping down on the couch. “Do you want something to eat? You must be hungry if you didn't eat since I...”  
“Yes please.”  
“Okay. Look, I'm sorry I yelled.”  
“I'm sorry I made you yell.”  
“Don't be sorry. You didn't know any better. I did, and I'm sorry I scared you. What do you want to eat?”  
“Just toast.”  
“There /are/ other foods in existence you know. You don't have to spend the rest of your life eating toast.”  
“I want toast.” Anti pouted.  
“Alright, that's easy enough. Whatever you want.” Mark shrugged, heading into the kitchen. He put some bread in the toaster. “So, are you feeling better? You should probably go lay down. Are you sure you want toast? I can make you pancakes.”  
Anti nodded eagerly. Memories of making pancakes for Mark flooded back. He wanted to try these pancakes, now that he could eat.  
“Alright, pancakes it is.” Mark started mixing things. “If you want blankets you can go get some.”  
“Okay, thanks.” Anti left to get a blanket and returned with the covers from Mark's bed, having apparently decided to pull them all off and wrap them around himself.  
“Okay, what do you like about my bed so much? I'm not mad, but there are plenty of blankets easier to get than those were.” Mark sighed.  
“They smell like you.”  
“Oh... Is that a good thing?”  
Anti thought about it. “It's a good thing.”  
“You smell things differently, right? What do I smell like?”  
“Home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry if that sucked. I didn't have time to edit. Thanks so much for reading!!!


	9. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack finally comes home.

Anti woke slowly in Mark's arms. He loved waking up next to Mark, all warm and safe. He smiled and let out a soft sigh, shifting closer. His stitched cut still hurt, he noted, but it wasn't so bad now. He was content to lay here in Mark's arms. Mark was warm, and even though Anti wasn't particularly cold, it was still nice. After a long night spent out in the cold, Anti figured he deserved some extra cuddle time. Unfortunately Mark was waking up, and he thought Anti was still in the guest room, so he would probably get kicked out soon.  
“Mmm. Morning.” Mark smiled, still half asleep.  
“Morning.”  
“Thought you were in your bed.”  
“No.”  
“Well alright then.” Mark laughed. “How'd you sleep?” He pulled Anti into his chest.  
“You're not sending me back to bed?” Anti asked, confused.  
“No. You're allowed to cuddle, and you can always come to my bed.”  
“Oh... Okay.” Anti relaxed a bit, nuzzling into Mark's neck.  
“Why do you nuzzle like that?”  
“Sorry.” Anti backed off.  
“No, I don’t mind. I'm just curious.”  
“Oh, I don't know... I think it has something to do with scent maybe? It just feels nice.”  
“Well it's perfectly fine. Jack does it too...” Mark pulled him closer, surrounding him with his scent and soothing him. Mark's scent was like a blanket, wrapping around him and keeping him warm and safe.  
“Do you want breakfast?”  
“No, I want to stay here.”  
“Okay. We can cuddle. You can go back to sleep if you want.”  
“Won't you miss an upload?”  
“It's okay. I'm sure they'll forgive me. You can go to sleep.”  
Anti nodded, letting his eyes slip shut. 

 

“I'm home!” Jack called into the house. Anti and Mark tackled him in a running group hug.  
“Oof! Hi! Did you miss me?” Jack laughed. “And are you two finally getting along?”  
“Yeah, we went ice skating. I'm sure Anti can tell you all about it.” Mark laughed, releasing Jack. “I have to finish making lunch.”  
“Go ahead. So, Anti, what did you and Mark do while I was gone?”  
“He taught me how to make toast and I stole his blankets, and he let me listen to music on his phone, oh! And then I got stabbed!” Anti lifted his shirt excitedly to show Jack.  
“You did, did you? MARK!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter to go! I hope you've all enjoyed this story so far! I'll try to upload a one shot every Friday, but I'm not always in the mood to write, so we'll see. Thank you all so much for reading!!!


	10. Epilogue

“I'm glad that Anti's stab healed up alright.” Jack sighed, joining Mark at the table for lunch.  
“Took it long enough. Three months.” Mark agreed.  
“Where is Anti anyways? Isn't he hungry?”  
“He's not really on a regular eating schedule, I told you.”   
“Well where is he?”  
“Fridge.” Mark pointed. Anti was curled up asleep on top of the refrigerator with his new friend.  
“I told you getting him a kitten was a good idea. They're best friends.” Jack smiled.  
“Yeah, but he named it Mr. Mittens.”  
“So? What's wrong with Mr. Mittens?”  
“Mr. Mittens is a girl.” Mark frowned.  
“Well he named himself Anti, so of all the things he could've named that kitten, be glad he chose Mr. Mittens.” Jack laughed.  
“Glad or not, we need to get him on a regular sleeping schedule if he'll be starting school soon. Don't want him to fall asleep in class.”  
“You're probably right, we should wake him... Not it!” Jack announced and darted out of the room.  
“Ugh! You're worse than he is sometimes!” Mark groaned.   
“Still not waking him up!”  
Mark chased Jack out into the living room where he tackled his partner on the couch.   
“Get off! You're squishing me!” Jack laughed, shoving him playfully.   
“Never! You're my captive now!” Mark let out an evil laugh and started tickling Jack. Both froze when Anti slowly padded into the room. He looked very tired and grumpy. Mr. Mittens looked grumpy too, tucked under Anti's arm and squirming about to get free. Anti crossed the room and curled up between Jack and Mark, yawning and relaxing. They settled in, getting comfortable since Anti wasn't moving anytime in the near future, and soon they were drifting off too. Maybe a normal sleep schedule could wait. Anti pulled Mr. Mittens into his chest and let himself drift back off. He was safe here, safe and content to just bask in the silence with his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Thank you all so /very/ much for reading this and sticking with me through all the and my awkward updates and unedited uploads!!! I really can't thank you guys enough! None of this would have happened without all of you lovely people here cheering me on and gently correcting my errors (thanks). It really isn't just the author who makes long stories like this happen, it's the readers too, providing their editing skills and offering amazing ideas! I could not have asked for a better community of readers and fellow writers to support me through this, so truly, thank you. And thanks you to those of you reading this from the future! I may not know you yet, but I can't wait to meet you! I hope to see you all again in later stories, and requests of any sort are welcome!!! One final thank you, because you all deserve it!!! I'll see you soon!!!!


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